Seiten

Flavors: Ginger Mango Bread

A short post today. I was planning on something more elaborate for this post but, I am busy. See I am in the midst of packing!

Tomorrow morning we'll be heading towards Austria for a long awaited family vacation. It's been long since we all had some time together, without work, school and family issues everyday. A much needed R&R!

Before I go I did want to leave you something to nibble on though. It would be bad if you came here in my absence and found nothing to indulge in. What can I say? I'm crazy about you all. ;-)

How does this wonderful moist loaf look to you? It's filled with juicy and sweet mango chunks, plump yellow Iranian raisins I brought back from Dubai, spiced with ginger and cinnamon.

When my son says "Mum, we have not baked together for ages!" I know this is his way of saying he needs some one on one time with me. So we put on our aprons and look for the perfect recipe. This time we found the ideal cake in the ever resourceful cookbook from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours. The book is our bible and this time Soeren actually walked into the room with the book tucked under his arms. "Mum we need to bake a cake together!" he said. Yes we do!

A luscious mango ginger bread for the Monthly Mingle this month. We're celebrating Mango Mania. Hope you will be joining us too. To everyone who have sent in their entries - I have been slacking behind with my replies. Please do forgive me. But when I return I will catch up on that and then post the roundup.

You can easily keep track of the Monthly Mingle by visiting the MM Calendar. Next stop is Sig from Live to Eat. Watch out for the announcement on the weekend of 19/20 July.

In the meantime have a great week. Check back next week as I've scheduled a serious post regarding the Times of India!

Preparation Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour a loaf pan (21.6 cm x 11.4 cm), tapping out the excess flour. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet. You can alternatively us two normal baking sheets or simply wrap the loaf pan with thick aluminum foil. This keeps the bottom of the bread from overbaking.

Pour in the wet ingredients over the dry, then using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon mix until incorporated. The batter is very thick so do not be alarmed. The texture is more like a dough rather than a batter, which might take some time to mix. Keep at it and it will all come together.

Stir in the mangoes and raisins. Finally scrape out the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If you find the bread is getting too dark, simply cover the top with a sheet of baking paper or loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Sieve some of the icing sugar on top and serve!

This bread tastes even better the next day. A night to allow the flavors of the fruit and spices to infuse gives the bread more aroma and body.

Storing: Wrapped in plastic wrap or stored in a air-tight container the bread will keep for 4-5 days at room temperature (and taste better each day!).

Verdict

Nothing could be better than fruity and sweet mangoes paired with aromatic spices and then mixed in a heavenly batter and baked. Wow! This was too good - so good that it simply was all gone far too fast. This has become a regular loaf in my baking repertoire. I've experimented with substituting cardamom for the cinnamon or even apricots for the mangoes. All work great - however I am partial to mangoes ;-)

Thanks for leaving such a delectable bread! Looks very yum. My son does a similar thing - he searches blogs or my recipe books for the yummiest snaps, reads the recipe and says - Mummy no eggs, it is obviously tasty and you could substitute the milk, isn't it perfect for us? - Which means I have to make it!Enjoy your vacation!

Mango and ginger? It's like this cake was calling me to make it! Although I was wary of the impossibly long baking time, it was a cinch to make and I could just leave it in the oven. I found that when I made a well in the dry ingredients, poured in the wet and folded together with a wooden spoon, they came together in less than a minute! The result is a moist spicy cake with the actual texture of a bread, and not too sweet as well. Unfortunately, the mango flavour is not as pronounced but maybe that will appear tomorrow.

I would love to try this with some cardamom substituting in for the cinnamon.

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hello, I am Meeta a freelance food photographer, stylist and writer living in the cuturally rich city of Weimar, Germany with my husband and our son, where I enjoy preparing multi-cultural home cooked meals with fresh organic ingredients. What's for lunch, Honey? is my award winning food blog where I combine my love for food with my love for photography and styling...